SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

The Path of Consciousness is a spiritual and writing conference and retreat that will help you transform your writing life with the help of various ancient, sacred and creative teachings, including writing and storytelling. Choose to stay for the one-day conference or the 3-day all-inclusive retreat.

The event is October 5-7, 2018 at the Colombiere Conference & Retreat Center, which is nestled on beautiful 420 rolling acres of mature pines and hardwoods in Clarkston, Michigan.

For more information, and to register, visit www.ThePathofConsciousness.com 

GRANT MYTHS

I recently had a reader get quite hot under the collar at me for allowing posts about grants that go to people who aren't poor or disadvantaged. "It ought to be a crime," they said, elaborating that grants should only to people who have little funds or are handicapped in some way. 

I tried to explain to them that grants go to whomever the grant provider set up the grant to assist. There is no rule except that which the grant provider writes into its bylaws, mission statement, or regulations. Grants are not necessarily designed to go to the poor, aged, handicapped, etc. and if you apply for a grant and lead with any of those, and the grant isn't designed to address those groups, then you are shooting yourself in the foot. 

You MUST study a grant and understand the group of people it is reaching out to. 

It's no different than me deciding to give money to another writer, which I did a year ago. I could not attend a Killer Nashville conference that I had paid for, so I opened a competition to "grant" those funds plus some travel money to a writer who could tell me why they were worthy of such an award and what they planned to do with their experience from the conference. I did not ask for financial statements. I didn't ask whether anyone was the member of a disadvantaged group. Neither carried any weight in this grant. The weight was how well someone was motivated as a writer and how well they planned.

And you guessed it. Someone got furious that I didn't give it to a poor writer. The furious person looked up the winner and noted she could afford to travel, had been to other events, looked un-poor.

Money is given away for a multitude of reasons. Most grants are performance-based, not need-based. Even scholarships, while they might have a need-based side, usually require a performance-based aspect first and foremost. 

In other words, the grant provider wants to get their money's worth. Your goal is to apply and prove to them that you are worth the risk, and that your success will make them look better. That simple. 

A grant is one tool in the toolbox, not your source of income. It's not a donation for your lot in life. It's a catalyst for accomplishment. 







PREVIOUS FAVORITE POSTS:

• Writing Nonfiction for Children
• Would You Write Daily If You Got Paid for It?
• How to Write (Almost) a Million Words a Year
• Time Saving 101: Topics to Avoid Reading
• Using Contests as Door Openers
• How I Won a Scholarship to a Writer's Retreat
• Buying Yourself Time
• The Biggest Mistake You'll Ever Make as a Children's Author
• Travel Writing 101
• Starting a Street Team

 


WORDS OF SUCCESS

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." 

--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
 

SPONSOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

SUccess Story

If FundsforWriters has assisted your writing efforts, please, share with us. Send your success story to hope@chopeclark.com 

 

Featured article

Selling Your Personal Essays

By Alex J. Coyne

Personal essays are an enriching, expressive and lucrative niche. I’ve sold a few: Here’s What We Learned Being Homeless for The Penny Hoarder, Writing with a Genetic Disorder for Folks Magazine, Cold Calling: Here’s What You Might Be Missing for Unemploymentville and others. Here’s how to turn your personal essays and life stories into salable articles.

Defining Personal Essays

Personal essays tell stories of the author’s personal experience. They inspire, they bare the soul, they tell things from a first-hand perspective. Essays fall into several categories: stories of brushes with the rich and famous, career advice about how you made it, stories of how you have overcome an obstacle in life or health, or a story of a notable friendship, relationship or occurrence in your life. Personal essays are the stories that happen, not the ones you look for.

Markets for Personal Essays

Reader’s Digest is an evergreen classic for short, personal stories. The Penny Hoarder seeks stories of personal financial success. The New York Times accepts long-form essays relating to brushes with the famous – or extraordinary life experiences. The Guardian considers first-person personal essays on remarkable experiences. Chicken Soup for the Soul is open for inspirational personal essay calls. Writer’s Digest wants personal essays about writers and their industry experience.

Telling Your Story

Outline the core points of your experience first. When writing, focus on the way you felt at the time – the emotions, smells, sights and thoughts. Personal essays have a need to be more expressive and can be a little biased. Evoke emotion. It’s also important to avoid getting side-tracked: Focus on what’s relevant to the experience – the reader doesn’t need your whole life story to understand or relate to this essay.

Honesty and Other Things

Readers want complete honesty, so make sure that you confirm any facts and details that you might not remember to the t – yes, you might want to include the song that was the Billboard Top 10 that month, but you might also get it wrong. Memory is never flawless, so double-check your details.

Mentioning Others

Personal essays also involve other people: friends, enemies, good Samaritans. Include them but note that you sometimes want to change identifiable names and places with a footnote at the end of the story. Give them a call when you’re writing and say, “Hey, I’m writing a story and I want to mention you.” It helps to make sure they’re OK with it if they’re an integral part of your essay.

Accompanying Resources 

Personal essays require you to dig through your own memories, paperwork and records – and sometimes you dig up something that fits your story. Letters, photographs, newspaper clippings and official reports are some which tend to go well with accompanying essays.

Personal Essay Ghostwriting

Sometimes personal essays are ghostwritten and put together from interviews and other resources. This is one opportunity for a writer who has a knack for spotting a fascinating story, approaching the subject and asking, “Hey, can I tell your story?” 

Bio: Alex J. Coyne is a journalist, writer and editor. His contributions have appeared in publications like People Magazine, CollegeHumor, WritersWeekly, Great Bridge Links and FundsforWriters.

COmpetitions

NAUGATUCK RIVER REVIEW NARRATIVE POETRY CONTEST
https://naugatuckriver.submittable.com/submit/118496/naugatuck-river-reviews-10th-annual-narrative-poetry-contest
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 1, 2018. Please submit no more than three unpublished narrative poems. No more than 50 lines per poem. All poems will be considered for publication. Winners, finalists and semi-finalists will be offered publication in the winter/spring 2019 issue of NRR. First prize is $1000 for one poem, second prize is $250 and third prize is $100. 



TEXAS OBSERVER SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://www.texasobserver.org/announcing-the-eighth-annual-observer-short-story-contest/
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 30, 2018. Pays $1,000 and publication in the October issue. Contest is open to any and all participants regardless of location. No restrictions on genre or theme; Texas settings encouraged but not required. Stories must not exceed 2,500 words.



DIALOGUE ONLY CONTEST
http://www.bartlebysnopes.com/contests.htm
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 15, 2018. Compose a short story entirely of dialogue. You may use as many characters as you want. Your entry must be under 2,000 words. Your entry does not have to follow standard rules for writing dialogue. Your entry cannot use any narration (this includes tag lines such as he said, she said, etc.). A minimum of $500 will be awarded, with at least $300 going to the grand prize winner. Our five finalists will also be published on the website. To date we've awarded over $10,000 to our contest finalists including over $2,800 during our 8th Annual Contest. For every entry over 50, an additional $5 will be added to the total prize money.



THE WRITER SUMMER FLASH FICTION CONTEST
https://writermag.submittable.com/submit
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 15, 2018. Limit 1,000 words. Grand prize $1,000 and publication. Second place receives $500 and publication. Third prize receives $250 and online publication. 



LOS ANGELES REVIEW SUMMER LITERARY AWARDS
http://losangelesreview.org/awards/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 14, 2018. Using the online submission system, submit up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each, a short story or essay of up to 2,500 words, or a piece of flash fiction of up to 500 words. Prizes include a $1,000 honorarium and publication via LAR Online and in the best-of annual print edition of the Los Angeles Review, issue no. 24, set to be released in spring 2019.


 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

CROSSTOWN ARTS RESIDENCIES
http://crosstownarts.org/
Deadline July 15, 2018. The multidisciplinary artist residency program at Crosstown Arts in Memphis, Tennessee, offers residencies for visiting and Memphis-based visual and performing artists working in any creative discipline as well as musicians, filmmakers, and writers in all genres. All residencies include a private studio workspace with meals provided six days a week. Live/work residencies also include a private bedroom/bathroom next to a common living area and a shared kitchen for all residents. 



RED GATE RESIDENCY
http://www.redgategallery.com/
Deadline July 17, 2018. Red Gate Residency provides artists, curators, writers and academics with an opportunity to live and work in China. Red Gate has a number of fully self-contained apartments and studios available which are ready to use. For the fifth edition of the Crystal Ruth Bell Residency, Red Gate Residency, and China Residencies are inviting people to apply for a fully-funded residency at Red Gate Residency in Beijing for the months of November and December 2018. We are calling for people of all types of creative practices, of all passports, ages, gender-identities, abilities, and interests to send us proposals for projects to pursue in Beijing this winter around the verb “nourish" - in any way the word makes sense to you.



SACATAR RESIDENCIES
http://sacatar.org/
Deadline July 30, 2018. The INSTITUTO SACATAR is located on the island of Itaparica in the Bay of All Saints, across from the first capital of Brazil: Salvador, Bahia. During their two-month residency period, Sacatar Fellows are encouraged and supported to utilize their creative practice to engage with the local Bahian communities in Salvador and Itaparica, resulting in rich intercultural collaborative exchanges that are shared through public programs locally and across the world. 



CREATIVE ACCESS AWARDS
http://www.artistcommunities.org/creativeaccess/apply
Deadline August 20, 2018. Creative Access awards are for visual artists and writers living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) in the United States and Canada. If selected, Fellows will receive a two- to eight-week residency that must take place between April - December 2019; a $1,000 stipend to offset travel and other costs of the residency; and room/board and travel support ($250) for a personal assistant/caregiver, if needed. The 12 Fellowships will be distributed evenly among the four partnering programs: Vermont Studio Center, PLAYA, Ragdale Foundation, and Santa Fe Art Institute.



HEDGEBROOK RESIDENCIES
http://www.hedgebrook.org/
Hedgebrook is on Whidbey Island, about 35 miles northwest of Seattle, situated on 48 acres of forest and meadow facing Puget Sound. Residents spend their days in solitude – writing, reading, taking walks in the woods on the property, on nearby Double Bluff beach or trails around the island. In the evenings, they gather in the Farmhouse kitchen to share a home-cooked gourmet meal (prepared by our chefs from the on-site organic garden) along with their work, their process and their stories.



ELSEWHERE RESIDENCIES
http://www.goelsewhere.org/apply/
Deadline July 27, 2018. Elsewhere is now accepting applications for 2019 opportunities from creatives working across media, fields, and disciplines. Residencies are available during five sessions, each two to four weeks long with up to seven residents at a time. Additionally, residents receive room & board, material, tool, and equipment access, as well as public engagement and programming opportunities, documentation, promotion, online and in-museum representation of work. The Residency program is partially subsidized with a nominal fee. In 2019 Elsewhere is offering 10 fellowships which sponsor the month-long residency, provide a travel stipend and $1,000 honorarium. Five Fellowships will support creatives raised or based in the Southern US through the Southern Constellations Fellowship. Five Exchange Fellowships support connectivity between Elsewhere and an annually selected Metropol (2019: Philadelphia). 



WILLAPA BAY ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
http://www.willapabayair.org/
Deadline July 31, 2018. Willapa Bay AiR offers month-long, self-directed residencies to emerging and established artists, writers, musical composers and songwriters. Situated on 16 acres in coastal southwest Washington State, the Residency provides lodging, meals, and work space, at no cost, to six residents each month, from March 1 through September 30 of the year. Willapa Bay AiR is situated approximately 30 miles north of the mouth of the Columbia River, the border between Oregon and Washington, in the National Historic Register village of Oysterville, Washington. 


 

FREELANCE MARKETS

SAPIENS
https://www.sapiens.org/write-for-us/
SAPIENS features writing by anthropologists and journalist contributors across all fields of anthropology—biological/physical, linguistic, and socio-cultural anthropology, as well as archaeology. We publish written and multimedia pieces that provide smart and surprising insights into human culture, language, evolution, and history, with the aim of reaching a popular, nonacademic audience. We look for writing that’s witty and fun, fresh and incisive, authentic and down-to-earth. First-person storytelling is preferred, when possible. Our aim is to deepen our readers’ understanding of the human experience through ideas that are grounded in or related to anthropological research, theories, and thinking.



CONCEPT ART EMPIRE
https://conceptartempire.com/write-for-us/
Just send us a message with your experience in art + some work samples. We should get back to you within a few days to see if we can try something. All new writers start with a test piece where we help you understand the style we’re going for. Yes, we’ll pay you for the test piece. If the test article looks good, then we can discuss monthly writing on a consistent basis. When you send your email be sure to include your artistic background, any writing background you have, and maybe a little blurb on your areas of expertise. (Ex: digital painting, traditional drawing, Zbrush modeling etc.) Also toss in a few of your art samples + any writing samples if you have some.



GENEROCITY
https://generocity.org/contributor-form/
We’re always looking for new voices to chronicle how social impact organizations are changing Philadelphia. Think: nonprofits, philanthropy, social enterprises, local government. We also love to share the stories of the people behind that change. Think: a reentrant making a name for himself in criminal justice reform, a scholar encouraging cross-sector collaboration, a school principal educating his students on #BlackLivesMatter. We’re looking for both reported stories (paid) and guest posts and opinion pieces from community leaders (not paid). We’re particularly passionate about amplifying the voices of women, people of color and other underrepresented folks, so if that’s you, please reach out, even if you haven’t contributed professionally before.



PRAYER CONNECT
https://www.prayerleader.com/about-us/write-for-us/
We have two writing opportunities: writing for Prayer Connect magazine and writing content for our websites. Feature articles are normally assigned to writers with expertise related to the theme of the issue (1,500 to 2,000 words). At least two articles per issue will feature a variety of topics on prayer, not necessarily tied to the theme (1,200 to 1,500 words). These are short articles designed to stimulate prayer in individuals or ideas for prayer leaders (250 to 500 words). These are short articles about God’s movement in the nation and the world through prayer (250 to 700 words). Payment will vary based on type of article. Typically, a non-themed article will be ten cents per word after editing. 



SHELTERFORCE
https://shelterforce.org/how-to-write-for-us/
Shelterforce works with professional writers for some (but not all) of our content. If you have experience with the subjects of economic development, community development, housing, neighborhood revitalization, community organizing, or related topics and would like to pitch us a story or be considered for an assignment, please contact us at articles@nhi.org. Please be aware that we might not always have the budget to accept a pitch if it doesn’t fit within our upcoming themes. We are currently particularly interested in stories relating to: The intersection of health and community development, and the intersection of arts and community development. 



EXPLORE ASHEVILLE
https://www.exploreasheville.com/write-for-us/
ExploreAsheville.com seeks to inspire Asheville visitors through authentic and stunning editorial and multimedia content, much of it from the perspective of local insiders and area experts. We are always seeking seasoned writers, photographers and multimedia storytellers who have a deep knowledge of Asheville and a desire to explore the region and to share its stories via paid, bylined freelance story assignments.



FOLKS
https://medium.com/@folksstories/come-write-for-us-we-pay-2c9915324287
Folks is an daily online magazine dedicated to telling the stories of remarkable people who refuse to be defined by their health issues. By sharing the experiences of these individuals, we hope to change people’s notions about what it means to be "normal." Seeking compelling personal essays with a unique hook and a strong takeaway challenging readers to think differently about what it means to have a health condition. We pay $400 for the exclusive publishing rights to your essay for a one-year period.


 

Publishers/agents

FALSTAFF BOOKS
http://falstaffbooks.com/submissions/
Seeks Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, Weird West, and, of course, the genres with a little bit of everything or something we’ve never seen before. No Erotica or Young Adult please. Prefers novel-length submissions to be in the range of normal word count conventions, though we will definitely consider novels that blow us away no matter how long or short they are. Usually 60,000 to 110,000 words hit our sweet spot. Please submit the first three chapters with your query letter for consideration. Please also let us know in your query letter if your work is a standalone novel or part of a larger series. Falstaff Books seeks new and exciting novellas as well that range from 30,000 to 40,000 words across various genres. We ask that you submit the first 1,000 words of your novella for consideration.



SMALL BEER PRESS
http://smallbeerpress.com/about/submission-guidelines/
We publish six to ten books per year. We pay a small advance and standard royalties. Our ebook royalty rate is 40 percent of net receipts. Please send a query with a synopsis and the first 10-20 pages of the book (not the full manuscript) in standard manuscript format, and an SASE (with a Forever Stamp or an international reply coupon) by mail. Wide assortment of genres but leans scifi.



LUNA PRESS
https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/submissions
We focus on Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy (and their sub-genres). Short Story up to 7,500 words. Novelette 7,500 - 17,500. Novella 17,500 - 40,000. Novel 40,000+ (No unsolicited manuscripts at present). 



REBELLION
http://www.rebellionpublishing.com/about
Based in the UK we're an international publisher of the finest in traditional and cutting-edge Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime. Rebellion Publishing has expanded over the last 15 years with the creation of cult imprint Abaddon Books in 2006, acquisition of SFF powerhouse Solaris Books in 2010 and the launch of alternative Children's and YA imprint Ravenstone Press in 2013.



SEVERED PRESS
http://www.severedpress.com/submissions/
Severed Press is open for submissions, and we want to hear from talented writers of horror and science fiction looking to have their work published. We give full consideration to any submission that offers a well-presented story while adhering to our guidelines.



TALOS PRESS
https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/talos-press/submissions/
We are open to receiving submissions of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. They request a query letter. a synopsis, and market analysis, a sample chapter, and a curriculum vitae (bio). 

 

SPONSORS

Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest

16th year. $4,000 in cash prizes, including $1,500 for a poem in any style and $1,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. The top two winners will also receive one-year gift certificates from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $50 value). Final judge: S. Mei Sheng Frazier. Both published and unpublished work accepted. All entries that win cash prizes will be published on WinningWriters.com. Entry fee is $12 per poem. Each poem may have up to 250 lines. Submit by September 30. Winning Writers is one of "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest). See guidelines, past winners, and enter online via Submittable at winningwriters.com/tompoetry








GET WEBSITES THAT ROCK, BOOK COVERS THAT SIZZLE

Shaila Abdullah has designed websites, book designs, marketing materials, and email campaigns for over 60 authors, writers and speakers. Being an award-winning author herself, she understands the industry, and will provide you with designs that reflect your unique style, genre, and personality. 

MENTION THIS AD AND GET 10% OFF (NEW CLIENTS ONLY)
EXISTING CLIENTS EARN 8% REFERRAL FEE FOR SENDING IN NEW CLIENTS 

E-mail Shaila: info@myhouseofdesign.com 
View portfolio: http://myhouseofdesign.com/author-portfolio/
Services for authors: http://myhouseofdesign.com/services-for-authors/

A few testimonials from happy clients:

"Superb work, excellent customer service. Just marvelous overall.” —C. Hope Clark, author, founder of FundsforWriters, http://www.fundsforwriters.com

"The site captures my spirit and passion, and it honors my dream since childhood." —Lyn Fairchild Hawks, author, http://lynhawks.com/

"Shaila is a terrific designer, highly professional and extremely creative and delivers amazing results. Her sense of humor and positive spirit has made the whole process of developing and launching my web site a pleasure. –James Hutchison, playwright, http://jameshutchison.ca/

"When I first saw Shaila’s work, I was struck by the fact that her designs are not only beautiful but also perfectly reflect the personality of the business it represents. Her suggestions, insight, and artistic talent made the final product much better than what I’d envisioned on my own.” —Jacqueline Adams, writer, http://jacqueline-adams.com/

Other websites:
http://bapsisidhwa.com/
http://wagnerjulia.com/
http://lisakwinkler.com/
http://kbhyde.com/
http://meredithwargo.com/
 

FINE PRINT

Please forward the newsletter in its entirety. To reprint any editorials, contact hope@fundsforwriters.com for permission. Please do not assume that acknowledgements listed in your publication is considered a valid right to publish.

C. Hope Clark
E-mail: hope@fundsforwriters.com
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036
http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2018, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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